Surgical materials are important synthetic biomaterials that can be implanted in humans or animals and are used extensively in orthopedic surgery and related areas such as total joint arthroplasty. A number of dental applications also require the use of surgical materials such as cements.
The most common cement currently employed in cemented total joint arthroplasty is obtained by the polymerization of poly(methyl methacrylate) with methyl methacrylate monomer. In cemented total joint replacement, the surgical cement, also referred to as the bone cement, anchors the prosthesis to the contiguous bone. One concern associated with self-curing acrylic-based bone cements is the fracture of cements due to defects such a voids and agglomeration of fillers. (Topoleshi LDT. et al, Biomaterials 14(15): 1166-1172 (1993) Microstructual Pathway of Fracture in Poly(Methyl Methacrylate Bone Cement (Demian, et al. Regulatory Perspective on Characterization And Testing of Orthopedic Bone Cement, Biomaterials 19: 160-7-1618 (1998). Accordingly, a need exists for surgical cements which eliminate or minimize the above-referenced problems.